The gloves have detached themselves.
For the first time since the care of the leader of the largest commercial organization in the world for theater owners, Cinema United President-PDG, Michael O’Leary, ended a relatively long period of relaxation on the issue of theatrical windows when delivery of his second annual Union speech in Cinemacon.
O’Leary called studios and exhibitors to play a film exclusively in theaters for 45 days before being available at home. It is instead of windows as short as 17 days or 31 days for the biggest titles, a practice that appeared during the pandemic.
“Everyone feels the pressures of the market today-from the largest studios to the self-employed on a screen. But clinging to the standards of a pre-Pandemic world or the temporary adjustments made during this period, threatens the overall health of this large industry,” he told the assembly group of theater owners to applause. “We need a system that recognizes our common goals and does not oppose one sector against another in a short -term financial yield quest for long -term success.”
Continuing, he said: “Perception, or more importantly, sometimes reality, that everything will be available on other platforms in a few weeks, undermines the sustainability of the whole industry by negatively impacting the frequency of film buffs that go to the theater.”
Although Cinema United cannot negotiate windows due to antitrust problems – that is, individual studios – O’Leary can comment on the question.
The dramatic shortening of exclusive theatrical windows endangers an already fragile ecosystem, according to theater owners. They are not alone. In addition to Disney, Sony’s cinema chief Tom Rothman, and his best distribution lieutenant told Cinemacon on Monday that short windows threatened the theatrical. Other studios feel differently, saying that it will be difficult to put the genius back in the battle, so to speak.
During the pandemic, Universal led the effort to create a new Lucrative Premium VOD window which strikes in 17 or 31 days after a title is deployed in theaters, according to its opening crude. The studio has signed a historic agreement with AMC Theatres, the largest theater operator in the world. Other studios and theater circuits have followed suit, although some are waiting a little longer. Disney is the loner, except for a few exceptions, and respects an exclusive window of 60 days. (It is no coincidence that O’Leary is now expressed after the AMC chief Adam Aron, also said at the end of last month that Windows had to review.)
“We cannot sacrifice long -term success for a short -term gain,” said O’Leary during the speech. “That said, we recognize that the nature of the windows has undeniably changed. Repeat the time of a minimum theatrical window of 90 days for all films, and we understand the desire for flexibility to move films that have maximized their theatrical performance to other platforms to recover the investment. But there must be a base line and for most films.”.
He is convinced that a convincing film will do just as well on premium VOD at 45 days as 20 years. In addition, it would have the advantage of an impact marketing, advertising and additional word of mouth of additional time to the theater, and additional income too. “This is not a zero sum match. The goal is to enlarge the pie, for everyone,” continued O’Leary.
O’Leary said shorter windows reduce the number of people who are heading for the theater in the first weeks of an outing. Worse, it undermines the ability of movies with a low -budget or smaller budget to build an audience or even to start.
The comments of the Cinema United Chief attracted an enthusiastic response, especially when he indicated that a good starting point would be to stress aggressively “only in theaters” on all marketing platforms. “In addition, we should not promote or pre-order options” See-at-Home “while a film is still in theaters, and” at home “should never be the default application option when a film can still be seen in thousands of theaters across the country.”
He said that studios and theater operators should work together if marketing should be effective at a time when it is increasingly difficult to reach the consumer (the studios have been complaining for a long time that the exhibitors have not been enough in this area, a point that certain members of the united cinema would probably dispute). “Awareness is not only the responsibility of the studios. The exhibition must do everything possible to help stimulate marketing to all demographic data,” said O’Leary.
Recent data from the leading company The National Research Group revealed that raising awareness of the audience of new films is declining, with a 38% drop in titles which reach a level of awareness of more than 50% during the opening weekend.
“To move forward, our objective should be the conscience of the audience of more than 50% for all wide outings. We live during omnipresent and relentless communication periods, and there is no excuse not to reach this objective if the exhibition and the distribution work together,” added O’Leary. “If less than half of the moviegoers are aware of a new film, can we sincerely say that we are working to create a robust theatrical business?
By comparing the results of the box office of the 100 best films per year, the O’Leary team, before and post-Pandemic, noted that the revenues of the 20 best films have decreased by 10% in the post-country-country years. The average window for these photos was 49 days. But the brushes for the following 80 titles – many of which are small or medium -sized – have dropped by 32%. The average window for these films fell up to 31 days.
“The corresponding drop in the box office is not surprising,” said O’Leary. “If we can limit the drop in these 80 films to the same 10% drop as the top 20, this would add more than a billion dollars to the annual box office.”
O’Leary conceded that shortened windows were not the only reason for dramatic gout among the 80 films. But he said it was a major factor when consumers got used to watching a home film in the three to four weeks. He said that exclusivity does not only benefit the exhibition, but also from the filmmakers, the actors, the studios and the public, provided that the window is quite long.
“Longer windows, supported by marketing, would reduce the current level of decline and create more income in industry,” he said. “If we continue to shorten the windows and to exercise small medium -sized films, creating the impression that the only reason to go to the theater is the big blockbusters, then ultimately, the very necessary network to succeed in these blockbusters, it will berophy.”
O’Leary also urged exhibitors to invest in their cinema, and said that there was work to do in terms of planning, such as the wisdom to play a family classified family at 10 p.m.
The Cinema United Topper closed with a call for action for leaders in both exhibition and distribution to meet in good faith, and have frank conversations on what industry can do better at the collective level. “The world is different today from that yesterday, and we must not only adapt, but evolve if we want to achieve our future potential,” he said. “There is no reason why we cannot succeed, but we have to do things differently.”
Earlier, Charles Rivkin, chief of the association of Motion Picture films, who defends the main entertainment conglomerates, used his annual Union state speech to exhort industry to return more production to the United States. He avoided any mention of the new Trump administration.
